The present invention relates to a device for processing a flow of solid products with a counter-current flow of liquid, so as to ensure a thermal, physical and/or chemical exchange between the two flows.
The present invention has more particularly for a subject matter a device for cooling hot vegetables by means of a counter-current flow of water, more particularly by ensuring an intermittent dipping, steeping or soaking of the vegetables.
There are already known, particularly from French Pat. No. 2 119 571 of Dec. 21st, 1971, a method and devices for processing a flow of solid products by means of a counter-current flow of liquid, comprising a drum rotating about its axis and divided into several sections by annular discs. The solid products are fed to the drum at one end thereof and displaced towards its other end by mechanical means, whereas the liquid is fed to the drum at its other end and displaced in the opposite direction by mechanical means or by gravity. The separation of the products from the liquid is ensured by a perforated surface provided in each section and through which the liquid falls by gravity. The devices using gravity for displacing the liquid suffer from a major drawback which lies in the fact that the drum must be inclined. Moreover, in the device comprising in each section a perforated surface for separating the solid products from the liquid by causing the liquid to fall by gravity through the perforations, there often occurs an accumulation of the materials on the vertical partition walls dividing the drum into sections, which involves a risk of obturation of the perforations. Moreover, the access to those surfaces is relatively difficult, which makes the cleaning of the device difficult.